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E. 0. WILLIAMS.

REINFORCED CONCRETE SHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIS. 1918.

1,316,659. Patentedsept. 23,1919.

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- E. 0. WILLIAMS.

REINFORCED CONCRETE SHIP.

' APPLICATION FILED MAY 13. I918. 1 3 1 6, 6 5 9 Patented Sept. 23,1919.

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V U N ITED STATES PATENT OFFTCE.

EVAN OWEN wILLIAMsoF PARKSTONE, ENGLAND, A$SIGNOR r0 wItLIAMs FOREIGNPATENTS LIMITED, or LONDON, ENGLAND.

REINFORCED-CONCRETE SHIP.

To all whom it may concern:

; Be it known that I, EVAN OWEN W11 LIAMs, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Shaston, Ardmore Road, Parkstone,Dorsetshire, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Reinforced-Concrete Ships, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ships, barges, floatingstructures and the like, and it has for its object to provide structuresof this kind which have the advantage of increased strength combinedwith lighter weight and greater carrying capacity.

Hitherto it has been usual to construct the walls of reinforced concretestructures of the above kind of solid reinforced concrete slabsstiffened on either or both sides with concrete ribs and to concentratethe metal reinforcement in particular parts of the ribs and at or neartheir junction with the body of the slab.

Now, according to this invention the exterior or interior walls of shipsand other floating structures are provided with cavities arranged sothat they may be accessible and, if necessary, may be filled in withconcrete or any suitable hard setting dense composition in order tostrengthen the wall structure at that particular place if damaged orweakened due to any unforeseen cause. These cavities preferably formedbetween double slabs are separated one from the other by webs andnormally are sealed at both their upper and lower ends, but areaccessible by removable plugs or the like which may be inserted or builtinto the con crete preferably at or in close proximity to the upper andlower extremities of each cavity, so that by removing the requisite plugany collected moisture in the cavity may be readily drained ofl. Thewebs between the cavities and integral with the walls may be arranged toseparate the cavities both in vertical and horizontal directions and,together with the walls are properly reinforced so that the walls thusconstructed form, in the true sense, girders or beams adapted to takeany lateral loading and readily and effectually to resist any stressesto which they may be subjected.

Moreover, by providing for a suitable communication between thecavities, it is possible to use the latter, if necessary, for waterballast, for instance, in the case of a Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedSept. 23, 1919,

Application filed. May 13, 1918 Serial No. 234,207.

double bottom ship where the double bottom is used for that purpose.

The above and other characteristics of this nvention will be clearlyunderstood from the following description of the accompanying drawings,in which Figure l is a vertical cross section of a vertical wall andadjacent parts of a ship provided with unbroken vertical cavities between the deck and bottom, according to this mvention.

Fig. 2 is a similar section in which the vertical cavities aresub-divided into cells.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on a somewhat'larger scale on the lineIIIIII of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fractional section of a known wall structure, showingreinforcements as used hitherto. V Fig. 4 is a vertical section on theline IV- -IV ofFig 3, and

Fig. 5 is a partial longitudinal section on theline V-V of Fig. 8.

Similar reference numerals have been chosen to designate the same orlike parts throughout the drawings.

lis the deck of the ship, 2 is the outer skin, and 3 the inner skin ofthe vertical wall produced by the provision therein of the verticalcavities 4.

As shown, each vertical cavity 4: is accessible at its upper end fromthe deck 1 by way of a vertical hole 5. 6 is a lateral hole in the innerskin 8 giving access from the hold 'of the ship. The hole 5 is normallysealed either by a wooden block or plug not shown or by a poor qualityconcrete or any other dense setting material which, if de sired ornecessary, may be easily knocked out and replaced. 7 is a hole at thebottom of the cavity forming connection between the cavity 4L and thebottom 16 ofthe ship. 8 is a lateral access hole in the skin-3 betweenthe cavity 4 and the hold of the ship. Thehole 7 is preferably smallerthan either the holes 5 or 6, but the number of the holes 7 may begreater than the number of either the holes 5 or 6 so that the totalarea of the holes 7 need not be less than the total area of eithertheholes 5 or 6. The hole 8 would probably notbe formed in the wall, butit isa possible hole inthecase of a separate drainage system for cavitywalls, in. which case the hole 7 would be normally plugged up.Forinstance, where a double bottom 16,

shown connected by ribs 17, is used for water ballast, it might beconsidered inadvisable to utilize the cavities 4 for water ballast, and,in this case it would be possible, but not desirable, to have thepassage 7 open between the cavity 4 and the bottom of the ship.

Another way of insuring that the cavity 4 would not be liable to befilled with water when the double bottom is pumped full would be to omitor plug up the hole 6 and, of course, the hole 5, in which case even ifthe hole 7 were open the respective cavity 4 could not be filled withwater as there would be no escape for the air. This probably would bethe best method of preventing the cavity 4 from being filled with waterand at the same time giving drainage from the cavity into the bottom ofthe ship where it would be more convenient for any drainage water to bepumped out. If it is desired to utilize the cavity 4 for water ballast,each hole 7 is unplugged, the hole 8 plugged and the hole 6 freed toallow the passage of air. As will be seen, in the case of any damage toeither the outer skin or section 2 or the inner skin 3 of the wall, theaccess hole 5 leading from the deck to the cavity 4 between the damagedparts would be unplugged and the cavity 4 filled with either concrete orany other hard setting dense composition. The hole 5 being larger thaneach of the holes 7, the largest aggregate of the concrete which wouldpass through the hole 5 would be too large to pass through the hole 7and would effectually jam the holes 7. Thus, while it is possible to usethe cavities 4, if necessary, for water ballast, yet, in the case of anydamage to the wall of the ship due to collisions or other causes, thesecavities are employed to enable an immediate repair to be effectedtherein. In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2, the

vertical cavities 4 shown in Fig. 1 are subdivided or split up byhorizontal webs 9 into smaller vertical cavities'or cells. Like thevertical webs 11 which separate the cavities 4 vertically one from theother, the horizontal webs 9 may be of any requisite or desired number.10 designates relatively large holes in the webs 9 to permit drainagebetween the individual cells and, if necessary, to permit of the fillingof any or all of the cells in a row from the deck of the ship to providefor easy and immediate repair.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the webs between the cavities and theskins or slab sections connected by these webs are reinforced byvertical bars 12 arranged equidistant throughout and centrally 1n theinner and outer slabs and by horizontal bars 13 and 14 which are placedone on each side of'the vertical bars, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. In aconcrete ship the shearing stresses on the walls due to longitudinalwave action are thus taken up by the reinforcement in stituted by crossbars 15 of the shape clearly shown in Fig. 3. These cross bars are, asshown, each provided with an angular or oblique center piece andwithlateral members 15 extending parallel from the opposite ends of thecenter-piece in opposite directions and provided with inwardly bent endsor anchoring lugs 15 adapted to be anchored in opposite directions aboutone of the vertical bars 12 in each slab section. The effect of thesecross bars 15 is that the junctions between the webs 11 and .the walls 2and 3 are reinforced at the corners and, therefore, the parts 2, 3 and11 reinforced as shown and working in conjunction, constitute in realitya horizontal frame girder as clearly seen in Fig. 3 such that if anaccidental concentration of loading is applied at any point of the boata considerable horizontal distributing effect is created by thisarrangement.

By virtue of the vertical webs 11, moreover, the wall is caused to actas a vertical beam from the deck to the bottom of the ship to take anylateral loading, and the reinforcing bars 12 provide the necessaryreinforcement to aid the wall to act in this direction.

The advantages of the reinforcement above described will be more readilyappreciated from a comparison with Fig. 3 showing reinforcements ashitherto used in a reinforced concrete ship having a single skin orslab. In this case, as will be seen, the reinforcement 12 isconcentrated substantially in two places and that in the single skin 2in proximity to the junction between the rib or web 11 extends over awidth equal to or slightly greater than the width of the web, it beingcustomary to reinforce the remainder of the concrete slab 2 only lightlyin a vertical direction. The reinforcement 12 not being laterallysupported on each side of the .web 11 can contribute very little to thehorizontal shear which the wall is called upon to resist in rough orwavy water, whereas the reinforcing bars 12, shown in Fig.3, due totheir lateral support all contribute to countel-act such horizontalshearing stresses. Owing to this fact and to the arrangement shown, itis possible to use actually less weight of steel in cavitated wallsarranged according to this invention than in the single skin type. Thethickness of the slab forming the outer wall of a ship is deter mined byconsiderations of shear under wave action so that the combined thicknessof the inner and outer skins 2 and 3need not exceed the thickness of thesingle'skin 2 and the thickness of the webs 11 is more frequentlygovernedby the mechanical requirements for its reinforcement 12 and notby considerations of shearing stresses and since in a double skin bodythe thickness of the webs 11 is governed solely by considerations ofshear, it will usually be found that the webs 11 may be made very muchthinner than the webs 11. Also to obtain the same horizontaldistributive effect of a double skin wall would in a single skin body bepossible only by providing closely spaced horizontal stringers or Websin addition to the main webs 11 which would obviously result in aconsiderable increase of the total weight of the boat.

In effecting steel reinforcements as hereinbefore described it isadvisable in forming the joints in the reinforcing bars to combine theprocess of lapping and welding so as to form weld and lap joints in anappropriate staggered relation to one another.

Assuming, for example, a bar 30 feet long lapped 3 feet, the percentageof efficiency of the total weight of steel is roughly 27/30ths or equalto 90%. If the bars were only butted and welded about 80% of strength ofthe bars could be relied on at the joint. By the combination, however,of overlapping and welding the efliciency of 90% due to the overlappingplus 80% of the 10% due to the welding and which would have otherwisebeen wasted, is obtained, giving a total percentage of efficiency of98%. In other words, the usual method of overlapping is employed and, inaddition, the ends of the bars are welded.

Of course, the shape or configuration of the cavities could easily bevaried as well as the angular arrangement or position of the websaccording to particular requirements without afiecting the spirit of theinvention and it is therefore obvious that this invention should not beheld limited to any of the constructional forms hereinbeforespecifically referred to for various modifications would readily beconceived by those skilled in the art without departing from the chiefcharacteristics thereof.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. A reinforcedconcrete floating structure having walls with vertical cavities side byside and superposed, ports in the deck, one for each group of superposedcavities; said superposed cavities being in communication With eachother, substantially as described.

2. A reinforced concrete floating structure having vertical cavities inits walls the bottoms of which have openings communicating with anadjoining space and openings at the upper ends of said cavities oflarger size than the bottom openings, substantially as described.

3. A reinforced concrete floating structure having cavities in its wallswith ports for the access to each individual cavity both from the deckand laterally from the hold at the ends of a cavity, the port in thebottom of the lowest cavity of each vertical series being smaller thanthe corresponding deck hole so as to enable the filling materialintroduced through the deck hole to jam the said bottom hole in fillingthe cavity.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

EVAN OWEN WILLIAMS.

Witnesses: JUSTIN ERWIN POLLEY,

GEORGE ISAAC BRIDGES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

